The Virginia women’s volleyball team (8-10, 1-7 ACC) faced the Florida State Seminoles (12-4, 5-2 ACC) and the Miami Hurricanes (15-3, 6-2 ACC) over the weekend and fell in three sets to both schools.
These two losses mean the Hoos have a six-game ACC losing streak, but this is a year where ACC volleyball is on the rise with three ranked teams and other tough teams like FSU and Miami who have the potential for tournament runs.
On October 15th, UVA lost to FSU 9-25, 22-25, and 12-25. Florida State managed to hit .457 overall with 43 kills and only six errors. This kind of offensive efficiency is some of the best UVA has faced all season. Meanwhile, UVA had 29 kills and 20 errors to hit .108, which is under the team’s season average.
Florida State controlled sets one and three the entire time but set two featured a nice comeback from the Hoos to take a 14-12 lead in the set after falling behind 10-4. Jayna Francis had three kills and Brooklyn Borum had two in the scoring run. After that, the Seminoles pulled away again with the help of ten Cavalier hitting errors in the set.
UVA only managed one total block in the match, which is way below the normal performance. In past matches, Alana Walker has anchored the UVA defense when it comes to blocking, allowing her to be nationally ranked in blocks per set. However, Florida State was able to hit around and over the block at impressive rates to reach the .457 hitting percentage. Setter Lily Tessier was able to find her hitters in open areas and earn 32 assists.
Alana Walker led the Hoos on offense with eight total kills and a .357 hitting percentage, Mary Shaffer had six kills, and Jayna Francis had five.
On October 17th, UVA fell 19-25, 16-25, 22-25 to Miami. UVA outside hitter Grace Turner had five kills in set one to pace her team, and the two teams were tied 13-13, but Miami was able to slowly pull away to win.
The Hurricanes used a 7-0 run to close out set two behind serves from Hannah Bissler and three kills from Angela Grieve.
Set three was the closest of them all, and Brooklyn Borum led the way with five kills in the set. Although the Hoos stayed competitive, they trailed the majority of the set and were unable to close the gap.
Brooklyn Borum finished with a double-double, registering 11 kills and 12 digs to lead her team in both categories. She also hit .333 with 30 total chances and just one error, which is a very efficient performance. For Miami, Angela Grieve had 20 kills and hit .667, meaning she was nearly unstoppable when she took a swing.
UVA has two more ACC road games next weekend. The Hoos will face Louisville on October 22nd and Notre Dame on October 24th.
